Krolestwo Polskie,
or Krolestwo Kongresowe, or Kongresowka, English Kingdom of Poland
or Congress Kingdom: a political entity existing 1815-1915,
synonymous with the Russian partition. It was created by the Congress
of Vienna as a subdivision of the Duchy of Warsaw; it was united with
Russia in the person of its King, the Czar. Until 1831 it enjoyed a fair
amount of autonomy, but from 1832 its autonomy was limited by the Organic
Statute, which imposed on the Poles a military dictatorship. After the
failure of the 1863-1864 Uprising its autonomy was abolished and it became
little more than a province of the Russian Empire. In 1874 it came under
the rule of a Russian Governor General and was (unofficially) called the
Kraj Przywislanski [Land of the Vistula).

Malopolska,
English Little Poland, German Kleinpolen, a historical division
of Poland encompassing its southern and southeastern parts. It became
part of the Polish nation, as the lands or ziemie of Krakow and
Sandomierz, in the late 10th century; as of the 16th century it comprised
the southeastern lands of the Commonwealth. Malopolska became the Austrian
partition, called the Kronland (crownland] of Galicia; in 1809
part of it was included in the Duchy of Warsaw, and in 1815 in the Kingdom
of Poland. In 1918 Malopolska was returned to Poland, but the territories
east of the current border (i. e., Ukraine) were lost to the Soviet Union
after the Russo-Polish War (1919-1920) and World War 11.

Prusy,
English Prussia, German Preussen, a historical term that
can refer to (1) the lands on the southeastern coast of the Baltic, which
came under Polish and German rule in the Middle Ages; (2) the kingdom
ruled from 1701 by the German Hohenzollern dynasty, including Prussia
and Brandenburg, which seized much of northern Germany and western Poland
in the 18th and 19th centuries and united Germany under its leadership
in 1871; and (3) the Land (state] created after the fall of the
Hohenzollerns in 1918. Historically Prussia proper was divided into Ducal
Prussia and Royal Prussia. Ducal Prussia, Prusy Ksiazece, was territory
once ruled by the Teutonic Knights but held by them as a fief of the Polish
crown from 1525 to 1657. It came under Hohenzollern rule in 1701, and
subsequently was called East Prussia (Polish Prusy Wschodnie, German
Ostpreussen). Royal Prussia, Prusy Krolewskie, was long
held directly by the Polish crown; it came under German rule after the
First Partition in 1772, when it was officially called West Prussia (Polish
Prusy Zachodnie, German Westpreussen). Southern Prussia
(Polish Prusy Poludniowe, German Sudpreussen) was a term
used for Wielkopolska (q. v.) after the Second Partition in 1793,
up until 1815.

Wielkopolskal,
in English Great Poland, in German Grosspolen. This is a
historical term for the area of the central river basin of the Warta,
the historical homeland of the Polanie tribe. In the 9th and 10th centuries
it was the center of the first Polish nation, with its capital in Gniezno;
its first monarchs were the Piasts. In 1772 and 1793 the region was seized
by Prussia; from 1807-1815 it was included in the Grand Duchy of Warsaw;
then from 1815 to 19t9 it was part of Prussia as the Grand Duchy of Poznan
(Polish name Wielkie Ksiestwo Poznanskie, German name Provinz
Posen, also sometimes called Poznania), with the city of Poznan
(German name Posen) as its capital. In 1919 it was returned to
the reborn nation of Poland. During World War 11 it was made part of the
Third Reich as the so-called Warthegau (Warta district). In 1945
the whole territory was returned to Poland.